Page 60 of Black Star

As Nani watched on one of the vacant display screens, brilliant green and blue light burst into view at the two defending ships. The angles were all wrong for it to be theBlack Starfiring. Those were laser and plasma fire from theSword Breaker.

She clenched her fists and leaned over the console. This was all so surreal. The essence of her one true love was in that ship, and she couldn’t shake the instinct she had to protect theSword Breaker. It was almost as strong as the fierce need to do anything necessary to get her daughter back safely. For the first time since she’d been forcibly placed inside the essence of theBlack Star, all she could do was stand there and watch.

Not bloody likely.

The keys to the console seemed to take more dexterity to operate than her fingers possessed, but she gritted her teeth against the frustration and called up the information she so desperately needed. In a few seconds, she had a real-time readout of all psycomm chatter on the ship.

It took some adjusting, but she was used to intense multitasking. Pretty soon, she was following the conversation almost as well as she could have before she was put back into her body.

Forward warship sustained light to moderate damage port bow, sir. Shielding is compensating.

TheSword Breakeris closing in to their starboard side. Lasers at full capacity.

Increase to flank. Darian’s command cut through all other communication in bright, bold letters.Isolate the middle ship and cut her away from the other two.

Nani clenched her jaw tightly. Knowing what was happening and not being able to help was worse than not knowing. She could tell by the lack of energy fall-off of the Hand ships’ laser banks that they were holding back. It only made sense they were holding their main burst to get a good, clean killing shot. Looking at the typed text, Darian didn’t know that.

She looked to the tactical station where Viktor should have sat. He was gone. The seat was vacant. Briefly, she thought about taking the station, but without a psycomm, she was worse than useless. She’d break their concentration by needing external communication.

Quickly, she hacked into Darian’s personal comm. He was flying into a trap. True, anything the Hand could throw at them probably wouldn’t fatally damage them, but it might slow them down enough for the Hand to get out of the area with Nadira.

It’s a trap, Darian. They’re going to focus everything they have on you.

There was a pause, and for a moment, Nani was afraid he hadn’t gotten her text. Then he typed,That would buy them enough time for escape.

I believe so.

There was a pause as she watched Damon punch a few buttons on his console.

Topside thrusters. Take us down. Ready the tractor.

Sir, using the tractor beam on anything with that kind of mass will take our power down to twenty percent capacity and disable our hyperdrive. Reading the transcript seemed to lessen the impact of the warning, but Nani knew the safest course of action would be to simply back off. Fortunately, Damon was never one to retreat if there was a reasonable chance of victory.

Understood. DO IT.

The outburst was uncharacteristic, but reflective of her own feelings at the moment. He was a brilliant tactician, so she had no doubt he knew what he was doing. The ship sank with a slight lurch, and Nani watched as power was taken from all systems, save life support, for the tractor.

Target the starboard ship with lasers and engage tractor on that smaller ship when I command.

Nani scanned the area and found theSword Breakeragain coming at them from the other side of the battle sector and above them. The Hand ships floundered in space, not knowing which way to go. Damon’s target sank straight down, but he kept theBlack Starout of the other ship’s line of sight. Had the commander been experienced in battle, he’d have relied on his sensors more, but Damon’s gamble seemed to be paying off. He’d definitely done his homework. The Hand, while they loved technology they could glean from other cultures, had little understanding of how most of it really worked. They obviously weren’t used to the highly sensitive sensors the class of ship they flew used. Apparently, if they couldn’t see their target out the window, they floundered. Damon obviously had a hint that might happen.

Target acquired. Tractor ready. Awaiting your command, sir.

Several blind shots surged through space, missing both ships easily. The Hand moved about, trying to protect the smaller ship, but all they did was give theBlack Starand theSword Breakereasier access to the ship from above and below.

Nani gripped the edge of the console hard. Damon’s plan seemed to be working, but she didn’t want to hope too much. She wasn’t sure she could take that kind of disappointment right now. When Nadira had been taken, she’d felt like a knife had been plunged into her heart. Even now, her chest ached with grief even as hope tried to bloom inside her. She was finally able to hold her daughter in her arms and she might still lose the chance to do so.

She looked at Damon. His face was impassive, but his jaw clenched, and instead of simply pressing buttons on his console, he stabbed them with unnecessary force. He was as determined as she was. As she watched him, she was again thankful -- as she had been many times throughout the years -- that Damon had taken Nadira so closely under his wing. It was very likely she wouldn’t have survived without him. If there was any doubt that Damon loved Nadira like a daughter, it was erased as Nani watched him fighting to get her back now.

Steady. On my mark. Nani tensed and locked her knees to keep from falling. If this didn’t work, they might lose Nadira again. The thought that they might execute her flitted through Nani’s mind, and she quickly squashed the evil vision. If she thought like that, she might drive herself insane.

Fire!Damon barked the command into the psycomm, and Nani jumped. Brilliant green light streaked through space and hit the Hand target squarely. It was difficult to assess the damage by looking at it, but a small puff of green plasma fire exited the ship near where the aft engine should be. The flare was brief but Damon didn’t wait to see what happened. Apparently, he wasn’t taking any chances.

Again! Disable her completely. Do not destroy.

Similar bursts came from theBlack Staragainst the other ship, and it wasn’t long before neither of the warships gave any signs of life. Nani checked the sensors. The only thing functioning aboard either warship was life support, and one of them only minimally.

Damon sprang from his chair, a testament to how high his emotions were running. “Engage tractor!” He used the psycomm, but spoke anyway. His fists were clenched as he bent over the shoulder of the crewman sitting next to him. He had full readouts from his own station, but he was apparently expending nervous energy. Nani couldn’t blame him. She felt like she had a fifty-kilogram weight sitting on her chest. “Viktor! Are you ready?”

---